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PREVENTION THROUGH DESIGN

Outcomes

Outcomes are events, occurrences, or conditions that indicate progress in achieving the purpose of the program. Outcomes reflect the results of a program activity compared with its intended purpose; or, outcomes may answer the question "Will these resources result in success or contribute to the success of what we want to accomplish?"

Outcomes can be viewed from two different perspectives-ultimate and intermediate. For an occupational safety and health research program like the Prevention through Design Plan for the National Initiative, ultimate outcomes are reductions in design-related worker injuries, illnesses, fatalities and exposures. Injuries and illnesses have complex causes, and any effect of program activities on rates can take years to be seen. Therefore, outcomes are often measured on an intermediate timeframe. Intermediate outcomes are necessary steps that lead to ultimate outcomes-for example, reductions in the risk of a particular type of injury or illness. For occupational safety and health research programs, achieving intermediate risk reductions is as important as achieving the ultimate outcome of decreasing injury and illness incidence rates.

Intermediate Outcomes

Intermediates outcomes have been established for each of the intermediate goals in the PtD Plan for the National Initiative. A summary of the intermediate outcomes for each strategic area of focus (Research, Education, Practice, Policy and Small Business) is provided below.

Research

The effectiveness of selected design interventions in preventing injuries, illness, fatalities and exposures are demonstrated and disseminated.

Incident investigation and reporting models that include design factors are established;

Compelling business cases for including PtD methods into workplace designs are investigated and disseminated.

Plans to benefit from PtD motivators and enablers, resolve concerns, and break through the barriers are developed.

Design-team role changes that are required to effectively implement PtD are investigated and defined.

Education

Education programs, seminars and training modules for Designers, engineers, machinery and equipment manufacturers, health and safety (H&S) professionals, business leaders, and workers are developed and disseminated.

Business leaders and administrators recognize the value of PtD knowledge and skills for their engineering and design staff members and include PtD credentials in position descriptions.

An electronic compendium of successful PtD practices is available for integration into Engineering and H&S courses.

PtD concepts and methods are included in H&S and design-professional certification exams.

Practice

A web-based application for sharing successful PtD practices and information that meets the needs of the NORA industrial sectors is developed and deployed.

A method to identify tools and equipment that include design factors to eliminate hazards and minimize risks is developed and deployed.

Representative companies from each industrial sector that have integrated health and safety specifications into the procurement of workplace tools and equipment share their programs as “successful PtD practices.”

The value of employee involvement in PtD is demonstrated.

“Safe and lean” project examples using existing NIOSH mechanisms are available to demonstrate the value of PtD in lean manufacturing.

PtD is part of the organizational culture in OHSAS 18001-certified and OSHA VPP companies as evidenced by their successful incorporation of PtD elements into their Health & Safety.

Information about the business and social value of PtD are available in publications read by business leaders.

Information about the value of PtD for workers as well as their role in the PtD process are available in publications or media read by workers.

Methods to design appropriate controls into nanotechnology processes are developed and published.

Incident investigation methods include the identification of design-related causal factors.

Policy

A broad and generic voluntary consensus standard on PtD that is aligned with international prevention through design activities and practices is developed and approved.

By 2011, at least five new and existing standards will include PtD concepts.

Government capital projects include all elements of PtD and will be benchmark programs.

“Sustainable design” includes elements to eliminate hazards and minimize risk to workers.

Small Business

Small businesses have access to sector-specific social marketing messages about the value of PtD.

Business cases are developed for applying PtD principles to representative H&S hazards and risks in the small business environment.

A method to identify tools and equipment that include design factors to eliminate hazards and minimize risks is developed and deployed.

By 2011, small businesses have access to low-cost PtD educational seminars and training material in 10% of large urban centers (> 100,000 population).

By 2014, small businesses have access to low-cost PtD educational seminars and training materials in 50% of large urban centers.

Small business persons in other areas have access to information through web-based dissemination methods.

Small Businesses have web-based access to existing successful PtD solutions, adapted to the small business environment.

A campaign to raise awareness about the potential hazards and risks associated with purchasing used tools and equipment is developed and disseminated.

Ultimate Outcomes

By 2014, design-related injuries, illnesses, exposures and fatalities will demonstrate a statistically-significant reduction.